War of Kings (3)
Kim Dokja looked down at the two of them with a murderous expression.
"Dump that bitch Kim Dokja from Chungmuro and come over to my side. I'll treat you real well."
"…………?"
No—more precisely, she was looking at a severed head without a body, and one man.
Kim Dokja slowly ran a hand through her hair at the seething, boiling sensation rising from deep inside. Then she spoke a certain man's name.
"Ha… Park Jinwoo. You son of a bitch……."
With sunken eyes, Kim Dokja glared at Park Jinwoo, who had deceived her yet again. Her gaze held an enormous amount of rage.
This wasn't because he'd put bunny ears on her head before they parted ways. Well—that was part of it, to some degree.
Anyway, right now a magma-like fury was bubbling and erupting inside Kim Dokja.
"What, going to Nowon Station to check on a close acquaintance's life or death? Life or deeeath—?"
Crunch—!
Kim Dokja ground her teeth from the overflowing rage.
Why the hell was the guy who was supposed to go to Nowon Station to check on that "close acquaintance's" life or death currently at Dobong Station?
And dressed up in a suit and clown mask for a disguise, holding the head of the First Apostle's Avatar, no less.
"Hooo… haaa… ha, why does it feel hot? Weird. I'm basically a spiritual body right now."
Kim Dokja's Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint was divided into three stages.
Stage 1: the stage where she could sense a character's simple desires or emotions.
Stage 2: the stage where she could read a character's inner thoughts.
Stage 3, the final one: the stage where she could view the surrounding scenery where the characters were located, or immerse herself directly into a character.
As it happened, after hearing Jung Minseob's report via Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Stage 3, Kim Dokja had been peeking at Dobong Station through Kang Ilhoon.
Yes—she'd been spying on Dobong Station at exactly the right moment, so she could grasp the entire situation.
That Park Jinwoo had scammed them, headed to Dobong Station instead of Nowon Station, and crushed the Tyrant King and his group members with overwhelming power.
That he'd killed the Tyrant King, taken his flag, and obtained the same "King" attribute as herself.
That he'd recognized the First Apostle—more precisely, the identity of his Avatar—and subdued him.
And finally, that the First Apostle was currently trying to recruit Park Jinwoo to his side.
Kim Dokja had also been startled by Park Jinwoo's combat power, so she could understand the First Apostle's actions after witnessing that display of strength firsthand.
Calm down… I still need more information.
She was angry at the fox-like First Apostle trying to steal her comrade, but right now there was nothing she could do except one thing.
That one thing was eavesdropping on the conversation between the Apostle and Park Jinwoo to gather more information.
Kim Dokja forcibly suppressed her boiling rage and focused her gaze on Dobong Station again—to grasp more information.
Yes, if it hadn't been for the words the First Apostle spat out next, that would have been the case.
"So what's in it for me?"
"You like bunny girls, right? If you come to me, I'll wear a bunny girl outfit for a whole day."
"………!!!!"
Smack!
At the First Apostle's absurd proposal, Kim Dokja's eyes flashed wide—and at the sight of Park Jinwoo looking thoroughly tempted, she unconsciously slapped her own forehead.
"Ha… that crazy bastard… a horny son of a bitch who's ridiculously honest about his sexual preferences…."
She couldn't help but curse right now. That this kind of human was her comrade—Kim Dokja really didn't want to admit it.
The First Apostle was someone who used the skill called Avatar.
An Avatar was a tangible clone. A clone body created by bestowing a certain portion of one's own memories.
It could also be made with a different appearance and gender from the main body.
Did she understand what that meant?
Until she confirmed the First Apostle's main body, there was no way to tell whether the First Apostle was male or female, a minor, an adult, or an elderly person.
And yet Park Jinwoo, without knowing any of that, was making a tempted face at the First Apostle's offer to wear a bunny girl outfit if he came over?
And the First Apostle's current Avatar was in the form of a man, at that?
Wait… is Park Jinwoo not heterosexual but bisexual…? Is that why he's reacting like this?
Did he just like the look of someone in a bunny girl outfit regardless of gender?
Kim Dokja became extremely confused.
Due to excessive immersion, the 'Fourth Wall' is shaking.
"Ugh…?!"
Feeling strong dizziness from excessive immersion, Kim Dokja forced her churning insides to settle and looked down.
"……Look, I know I'm the enemy saying this, but you're a real pervert, huh? You're actually considering this?"
When the First Apostle spoke to Park Jinwoo with a look of contempt, Kim Dokja nodded repeatedly in agreement.
Yes, that's exactly what I wanted to say. How bad does it have to be for even the Apostle to say something with a contemptuous look? Good job! Say more!
Kim Dokja unconsciously cheered for the First Apostle. It was an unconscious expression of the anger and frustration that had built up because of Park Jinwoo.
"……Ahem! Ahem-hem!! Wh-who ever said I was considering it!? I-I was… I was going to refuse, okay?! Don't pin this on me!!"
Park Jinwoo cleared his throat, then denied the First Apostle's words while tears streamed from the corners of his eyes.
At that sight of Park Jinwoo, both Kim Dokja and the First Apostle's expressions crumpled.
"Wipe those tears flowing from your eyes before you say that, you idiot."
"Ha… I just want to punch him once and feel better."
Kim Dokja moved her body floating in the air, approached right beside Park Jinwoo, and shadowboxed toward his face.
Unfortunately, those fists never reached Park Jinwoo.
Soon Park Jinwoo wiped his tears with his suit sleeve and quietly opened his mouth.
"Hey, was it that obvious I was considering it?"
"Yeah, why ask the obvious?"
Kim Dokja glared at Park Jinwoo with an incredulous expression.
Park Jinwoo glanced once at the Apostle's head, then stared into empty space for a moment as if reading messages from the Constellations, before self-destructing on his own.
"Fine, honestly I was freaking considering it! So what?! A guy can do that, right!?"
"What a magnificent thing to brag about."
"It is something to brag about, you bastard."
Kim Dokja and the First Apostle stared at Park Jinwoo with dumbfounded expressions for a moment, then the First Apostle continued.
"Can you say that so confidently to your comrades too?"
"Ah, that I can't. The moment I say it, I'll either get cold stares from my comrades or get beaten up on the spot."
At the sight of Park Jinwoo scratching his head with an awkward expression, Kim Dokja clenched her fist tightly.
So he knew, and still acted that way? Fine, decided.
"When you come back this time, you'd better be ready to hang yourself on a cross, Park Jinwoo."
Kim Dokja glared at Park Jinwoo with bloodshot eyes and a cold sneer. Words that would make Park Jinwoo jump out of his skin if he heard them.
Kim Dokja thought: for a sinner who weighed a mere bunny girl against his comrades—herself included—this was a fitting punishment.
And then, the First Apostle looked up at Park Jinwoo with a meaningful smile.
"Ah, is that so?"
"Hey, hey. What's with that smile?"
"What about it?"
"That meaningful smile you just made, you bastard! Y-you're not… right?! It's not what I'm thinking, is it?!"
The First Apostle simply smiled as he looked at Park Jinwoo.
"What…? Don't tell me that First Apostle is planning to relay the contents of his conversation with Park Jinwoo to us?"
She and the Apostle were enemies. Would an enemy simply approach like that? Especially a place where not long ago his neck had been cut by Yoo Joonghyuk and stomped until it burst?
Kim Dokja glared at the First Apostle with suspicious eyes.
The Avatar the First Apostle possessed was a skill extremely excellent for espionage. As long as there was enough magic power and memory, not only could multiple clones be made, but the clones could share senses with the main body, or multiple clones could be remotely controlled simultaneously.
Don't tell me… is there an Avatar of the Apostle at Chungmuro right now too?
Or was it just simple bluffing?
"Hey, hey! I-I was wrong! Let's not do this for real?!"
"Tsk tsk… just accept the karma that's coming for you soon."
The First Apostle sneered at Park Jinwoo, then scattered into dust and disappeared. The main body had deactivated the Avatar skill.
When the First Apostle deactivated the skill, Park Jinwoo stood blankly for a moment, then urgently ran off somewhere.
"Where's that human going now…."
Kim Dokja followed after Park Jinwoo while floating in the air.
When Kim Dokja, following Park Jinwoo, arrived at the railroad tracks of the Dobong Station platform, far ahead Park Jinwoo was running toward Kang Ilhoon, who had started up his bike.
"Ah, Jinwoo-nim. Did you finish your busin—"
Kim Dokja wanted to hear the entire conversation between Kang Ilhoon and Park Jinwoo, but time didn't seem to be on her side.
Zzzt.
Kim Dokja's body began to blur for a moment. From using Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Stage 3 for a long time, her mental strength was gradually reaching its limit.
Due to high fatigue, 'Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint' Stage 3 is being deactivated.
Ah, of all times! Just a little, just a little more….
"Hey! Shut up, no time?! Hurry to Gwang— ah, no, Jung— to the —seong— and run, hurry!"
"Uh, y-yes, yes!"
What is he saying. I can't hear well….
Exclusive skill, 'Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint' Stage 3 is being deactivated.
Flash.
"Ugh…."
Kim Dokja's Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Stage 3 was forcibly deactivated as her mental strength finally reached its limit.
"Aigoo, my whole body aches…."
With a throbbing head and fatigue felt throughout her entire body, Kim Dokja felt as heavy as lead. But she couldn't just lie there, so she forced strength into her body and rose from her spot.
When Kim Dokja got up rustling from her place, Jung Heewon happened to be looking at the awakened Kim Dokja.
"Oh, you're up? You were talking in your sleep again."
She was talking in her sleep? Not understanding Jung Heewon's words, Kim Dokja asked with a bewildered expression.
"…What did I say?"
"It sounded like… 'Mom'."
"What? Mom…?"
She'd mentioned that person in her sleep talk?
Kim Dokja couldn't believe it at all. When Jung Heewon looked at her with an ambiguous smile, Kim Dokja opened her mouth to roughly gloss over it.
"Uh… well, I am worried about my mother too. More importantly, Heewon-ssi, I have a request."
"What is it?"
Kim Dokja said as she sprang up from her spot.
"I'd like Heewon-ssi not to participate in this Gwanghwamun battle."
"…Why?"
"There's something else I need you to do. And the only person I can trust is you, Heewon-ssi."
At Kim Dokja's words that the only person she could trust was herself, Jung Heewon let out a small sigh, then pouted her lips as if reluctantly accepting.
"I'll hear it out first. What is it?"
"Hey, when do we get there?!"
"W-we'll arrive soon!"
"Can't you go any faster!"
"This is already the best I can do! If I raise the speed any more, not only will the bike have problems, but we'll be in danger too!"
I sat behind Kang Ilhoon with an urgent expression.
Thanks to Kang Ilhoon's bike, we were moving quickly toward Gwanseongmyo in Jung-gu, but I had no idea when Han Sooyoung might snitch to Kim Dokja and the others, so I was even more pressed for time.
"Jinwoo-nim! We're here! That's the Gwanseongmyo you mentioned!"
"Where, where!"
I craned my neck to the side and looked at the Gwanseongmyo Kang Ilhoon had indicated.
Confirming the large Taegeuk pattern engraved on the gate, and the nameplate of this shrine and the description board beside it, this really was Gwanseongmyo.
Fortunately, there was no sign of Kim Dokja having left a dish of water under the gate. That meant Kim Dokja's party hadn't arrived yet.
I let out a sigh of relief and placed a hand on Kang Ilhoon's shoulder, patting it to show my appreciation for his hard work.
"Thanks to you, we weren't late. Thank you."
"Ah, not at all. I'm glad I could help."
"I don't use people for free. So this is the payment for that."
I took a bike fuel can filled with gasoline from the general store, along with a convenience store bag containing a few cold cans of beer and bottles of soju, and handed them straight to Kang Ilhoon.
Fortunately, Kang Ilhoon seemed pleased with the compensation I'd given him. He accepted the bag and fuel can I handed over with a broad smile, treating them like precious items.
"Thank you!"
"Of course I should repay you for bringing me this far. Anyway, good work. Now head back to Chungmuro and get some rest."
"Understood. Then I'll head to Chungmuro first."
"Yeah, drive carefully."
Vroooom!
Having dropped me off at Gwanseongmyo, Kang Ilhoon mounted the bike again and began heading toward Chungmuro.
"Alright, then let's rest for a bit…."
From catching Ignil at Anguk Station until now, I hadn't slept a single wink. Having killed the Throwing King and the Tyrant King, obtained the flags, and safely acquired the King attribute, maybe the tension was releasing—I was starting to feel drowsy.
Since it would take some time for Kim Dokja and her party to get to this Gwanseongmyo as well, I leaned my body against the gate of Gwanseongmyo and briefly closed my eyes.